Was I out of line? (GTA4 related Story)

Not out of line whatsoever, a 10 year old should not be playing this game. My eldest is 3 and is picking stuff up left right and centre, loves playing Loco Roco and Rub a Duck but GTA is not being played at all when she's around.

Ratings are there for a reason, especially for this kinda shit.
 
Good work, man! One less prepubescent voice screaming profanity at you online is one tiny (and I mean TINY) step towards a better online experience.

You should have told the mother to check around the house for any other M rated games (or even ask to "help" her search around the house for some "M rated gaming" ;) :D).

Could've told the kid "Sorry bud. You'll have to miss out on this one, but think about it. In about 7 years when GTA5 or 6 comes out, you'll probably be playing it via some super-VR shit. You can do stuff like steal cars and kill prostitutes 'cept it'll feel like real life without the consequences :D". (think of like, PS9 "matrix-y" type of console)
 
Absolutely did the right thing. Sounds like the parent was very happy to find out.

Now if she had said, yes I know what it means and I know there is going to be sex and violence but he's mature for his age, then well you have to let the parent be an idiot.
 
I have to admit I've let my nephews who are less then 10 play or watch some GTA on my psp before. I know they've played violent games or watched violent movies before. Some of them I think can handle it, others I regret letting them watch it. Either way I regret it now. Some kids are mature enough to handle games like GTA and others aren't. I think you did the right thing by informing the parent so she can make a good judgment whether her child is mature enough. Reading the ESRB rating though, he didn't stand a chance. :D
 
SPARTAN VI said:
He should be grateful, they're pieces of crap. Do you let him play other games that are rated M?

If you ask me alien blaster FPS games like Halo shouldn't be in the same category as GTA. A kid isn't going to mistaken that for anything real in this world. Then he sees something like GTA where that behavior is plausible in reality. In conclusion, ESRB is whack yiggity yo.
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Ya he's a huge fan of the Halo games. But ya, shooting aliens should be alright, but beating up hookers with crowbars and going to town on them in a car in a dark alley then jumping out killing them to take their money... that's something a youngster shouldn't be interacting with. I think that's quite different than throwing glowing blue alien plasma grenades at cartoon-like aliens with blue blood...
 
Good move OP, you did that kid a favor. Life makes you grow up too fast anyway, no point in rushing it at 10 years old...
 
when i was 14, the lady at gamestop tried to convince my mom NOT to get me vice city, particularly mentioning "drugs" and "prostitutes". I still got the game; I think a 14 year old can handle it.

Completely agree though that it should not be in a 10 year old's hands. Although I would have been pissed off if I were him! Sounds like he was so excited and then went home a cried for the rest of the week!
 
You did the right thing. I actually wish stores would just start carding for M rated games and R rated movies and put an end to this. Don't they have the ESRB pamphlet like at every electronics counter now? She should of put the game back, picked up the booklet, then let the kid pick out a more age appropriate game.

You might in fact even mentioned that not all M rated games are created equal. Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 for example are not anything like GTA4 for example.

With that said I got my copy of GTA4 today and I can't wait for Mario Kart Wii to come later in the week. :D
 
A lot of stores will card now. I see i happen all the time at GameStop, GameCrazy, and Toysrus. I believe even larger stores like Bestbuy and Circuit City have carding policies too. Doesn't really matter if mommie buys it though.
 
I really don't understand the thought process of some of the parents out there.


10 Year Old Kid: "Mommy! Mommy! Can you buy me this new game for sixty dollars so I can have sex with prostitutes, steal cars, run over people, and kill police officers?!?!"

Horrible Parent: "Awe, sure. But only if you promise to do your chores tonight, and don't forget to share this new game with your little brother! You know how little Jimmothy gets if he's left out of all the fun!"
 
Phimp said:
I really don't understand the thought process of some of the parents out there.


10 Year Old Kid: "Mommy! Mommy! Can you buy me this new game for sixty dollars so I can have sex with prostitutes, steal cars, run over people, and kill police officers?!?!"

Horrible Parent: "Awe, sure. But only if you promise to do your chores tonight, and don't forget to share this new game with your little brother! You know how little Jimmothy gets if he's left out of all the fun!"
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You're right that's terrible, who names their kid 'Jimmothy'?
 
After 5 minutes of the game good job you did that... the language is kinda rough for a ~10 year old...

When i was buying mine at bestbuy there was a lady from the local news doing a story on it...

and the best buy people were Carding people for the game... even me... im 24
 
Well, if the kid is immature enough to cry when a video game is taken away from him, he's definitely too immature to play GTAIV in my opinion.

Nice job. Shame on the mother for not knowing better.
 
Damn, that means that the kid has a 360 or PS3 then too huh? WTF man, my poor college ass doesn't even have one of those yet. (although I don't play console games much)
 
I had to show my DL at Walmart and I'm 31! Good for Walmart though and also props to the OP.

Unfortunately in our society, time has become our most valuable asset and as such, we tend to sometimes not pay attention to the details. This is just another example. Good for you though for pointing it out to that parent.

I also agree with the poster that said more places ought to start requiring proof of age when selling an item whether it be a CD, game, movie, or anything that has been deemed to not be appropriate for certain age groups. As an advocate and believer of the "less government the better" type of ideology, I also believe that if a law or rule is in place, it should be followed. Why have a rating system if no one follows it?
 
SPARTAN VI said:
Just adds to the argument that ESRB is not at all a substitute to good parenting. I was playing Doom, Wolfenstien, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior and such when I was a kid. I came out perfectly alright. I don't plot school bombings, day dream about shooting people, cut myself, or anything. :)
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Stiler said:
I know what the ratings exist for and more parents should know of them and make educated descisions on what they feel their own kid should be able to play and handle.

However at the same time, I ask myself, at 10'ish yrs old what was I playing?

Doom
Daggerfall
Resident Evil
Gta I

yeah, I think a lot of us were playing violent games at around his age as well.
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I think even though the graphics on those things are supposedily violence i think they're not as bad as GTA4 (Well GTA may be as bad, but I think GTA4 is worst, don't know about daggerfall). The reason I say that is because of the things you can interact such as going to nudie bars and picking up hoes and actually showing that and the words they say. Not to say that movies aren't doing that -- I think it's just really not for a 10 year old. C'mon Doom is so pixelated and Resident Evil got's no chicks dancing 99% nude in front of you -- If Anything 100% nude zombies.
 
I'm surprised all of you actually think that the OP was right :) I, of course, think so too.. but...

My nephew just turned 11 and his father will let him play any video game, regardless of rating or content because he thinks it makes him like a man, or something. Once my sister actually sat and watched GTA3 for a few minutes, she proceeded to scream at my nephews father for letting him play something like that. She didn't know how bad it was, even though I tried explaining it to her plenty of times.

He actually tried to sneak home my GTA3 game one time, and my sister found it before he could play it and grounded him for a long time for trying to get it past her ;) He plays a lot of games though that I don't think he should play... I was watching him play Dead Rising (I think that's which game it was) and holy crap! That game is NOT for 11 year olds either!

Then again... the stuff you can see on TV is just as bad, if not worse, than GTA is... so really, the kids are seeing all of this anyway unless you parental block the TV also. Same with the internet.
 
Tzzird said:
You were definitely not out of line. If you saw a mother smacking up her kid at a supermarket and just turned the other cheek, it would be the exact same thing.
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who are you to tell one how to parents their child

this is the problem, not enough kids get smacked up and you end up with kids playing games they couldnt because their parents dont punish them in anyways

if i saw a mother smack her kid up, with in reason, like smack on they're ass, i would walk over and give her a medal, too few parents do anything now a days and then you have half of the population of kids these days as degenerate attititude fill puss balls who think they can get away with murder!

I am only 28 by the way if it matter and i used to get a good ass smack if i did something wrong, mouthed off, et cetera, taught me some respect.


Hopefully at this mother's next tuporware party or avon calling! gathering she can tell the other mothers what the rating system is, after she finds a new way to babysit her kid while she is out :)
 
GTA1 was top down and blood was nothing more than a splat on the road. RE was like a pixelated zombie movie, and none of those had the content of GTA4, i,e. the language, sexual themes, etc.

I had a lady at work state that GTA4 could be no worse than "That Halo" and I looked at her like she had lost her mind.

People really have no clue, they think any game with a gun is equal to the next, but the context in which the violence takes place, whether or not it's promoted or glorified, and the decisions the player has to make to engage in the violence make all the difference to me.
 
My GF's kid is 13 now and was all about playing GTA games. Talking about them when I started dating his mom. I told her what they are about and the content in them as she did not know. Of course he wasn't allowed to play that game any more.

I have them over to my place as they don't have the ps3 or 360 or Wii at home. And he was playing some games and I set him up in my basement theather to play the fun fun game of Bioshock. I told him it is a mature rated game. Got him started in it and let him go wild. A few minitues later he is upstairs.. "that game is too creepy for me."

So I think bioshock will be my baromiter.. if they can play bioshock without freaking out then perhaps they can play GTA and understand that it isn't about reality.
 
Grimlaking said:
My GF's kid is 13 now and was all about playing GTA games. Talking about them when I started dating his mom. I told her what they are about and the content in them as she did not know. Of course he wasn't allowed to play that game any more.

I have them over to my place as they don't have the ps3 or 360 or Wii at home. And he was playing some games and I set him up in my basement theather to play the fun fun game of Bioshock. I told him it is a mature rated game. Got him started in it and let him go wild. A few minitues later he is upstairs.. "that game is too creepy for me."

So I think bioshock will be my baromiter.. if they can play bioshock without freaking out then perhaps they can play GTA and understand that it isn't about reality.
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Ha.. Wow, I really can't wait to play Bioshock! Bought it a few weeks ago, haven't started it yet.

My nephew has played all the Resident Evil games, any kind of other zombie-killing game out there, and has watched me beat all the Silent Hill games over and over... And he loved them all. I kinda want him to play BioShock too to see what he thinks about it.
 
He and his sister are not too media savvy really. Differnent socioeconomic backgrounds but it is all good. And yea bioshock is a great game. First game I ever played that I didn't realise when the opening cinimatic ended and the game began.
 
rofl, OWNED for life. Even my little cousin knows not to buy it even if he has enough money because his dad wouldn't let him have it.
 
Grimlaking said:
So I think bioshock will be my baromiter.. if they can play bioshock without freaking out then perhaps they can play GTA and understand that it isn't about reality.
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That's too funny. My little brother (10 years old) wanted BioShock for his 360, so being the cool big brother, I bought it for him even though he's not supposed to play M rated games. I really didn't think the game was that bad, not as bad as some of the stuff I know he's played, but apparently I was wrong. He played for like 15 minutes and got so scared he couldn't play anymore. Now he won't even sleep upstairs in his room by himself.

But in regards to this thread, I've done the same thing before when I worked at a pawn shop in college. Little kids would always come in and try to get their parents to buy them GTA games, and I would tell them how bad it was. Most of the time, they'd put it back, but every now and then the little snot nose would throw a fit and the parents would just cave so they didn't have to listen to it.

...and yes, I'm fully aware of the hipocracy here.
 
As a parent who has a 5 year old and a 13 year old - I think the OP did the right thing - I have Halo 1, 2 and 3, and while my 5 year old has watched me play them a VERY few times - he's only been allowed to play the game himself once - and that was a deathmatch at a friends house at that. I just got GTA4 and no way will he be allowed to play or see it, even though I KNOW he has a firm grasp of the difference between reality and fantasy. - We've played all of the Need for Speed games and once while I was driving in the car we heard sirens - I told him - "Oh no my heat level is up to 5" and proceeded to floor it for a second - he turned and looked at me and said "Dad, that's just in the game, slow down"

The problem with parents who aren't gamers or into computers is that they don't have the time or interest to keep up on things - most single parents are working their butts off just to make ends meet.

And what happened to adults being able to tell kids to knock it off when the parents weren't around? When I was a kid playing in my neighborhood if I was caught screwing around doing something I shouldn't have been doing you better beleive that if an adult was around, I'd be told to knock it off, or there was going to be a call to my parents. So really the OP just did what used to be the norm - if in a slightly different venue...
 
Stiler said:
I know what the ratings exist for and more parents should know of them and make educated descisions on what they feel their own kid should be able to play and handle.

However at the same time, I ask myself, at 10'ish yrs old what was I playing?

Doom
Daggerfall
Resident Evil
Gta I

yeah, I think a lot of us were playing violent games at around his age as well.
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exactly... I wonder how many hypocrites in this thread bitch and moan every time a new jack thompson article comes out, or some senator goes crazy about violent games, saying that games don't make ppl violent.....

seriously, they do NOT.... i'd bet that most of us were playing some pretty violent games back in the day at age 10 also.... Duke 3d comes to mind, as does the carmaggedon games.....

also, as was mentioned above... what is so bad about letting a 13 year old watch skinemax? is sex such a bad thing to you puritans... better to learn about and be comfortable with it than to go out there scared and clueless, like all too many these days....

seriously people, put that puritan bible down sometime... kids, especially if raised right can play violent games and explore sexuality safely and responsibly.....
 
brucedeluxe169 said:
exactly... I wonder how many hypocrites in this thread bitch and moan every time a new jack thompson article comes out, or some senator goes crazy about violent games, saying that games don't make ppl violent.....

seriously, they do NOT.... i'd bet that most of us were playing some pretty violent games back in the day at age 10 also.... Duke 3d comes to mind, as does the carmaggedon games.....

also, as was mentioned above... what is so bad about letting a 13 year old watch skinemax? is sex such a bad thing to you puritans... better to learn about and be comfortable with it than to go out there scared and clueless, like all too many these days....

seriously people, put that puritan bible down sometime... kids, especially if raised right can play violent games and explore sexuality safely and responsibly.....
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Wow... so much here that is just blatent flame bait...

Most of the people in this thread don't say that a 13 yearold shouldn't play the game. They say that thier parrent should be aware of what they are exposing them to.

Second off, it's pretty obvious video games don't make violent people, other wise someone would have gotten violent on jack thompson already..:rolleyes:
 
brucedeluxe169 said:
exactly... I wonder how many hypocrites in this thread bitch and moan every time a new jack thompson article comes out, or some senator goes crazy about violent games, saying that games don't make ppl violent.....

seriously, they do NOT.... i'd bet that most of us were playing some pretty violent games back in the day at age 10 also.... Duke 3d comes to mind, as does the carmaggedon games.....

also, as was mentioned above... what is so bad about letting a 13 year old watch skinemax? is sex such a bad thing to you puritans... better to learn about and be comfortable with it than to go out there scared and clueless, like all too many these days....

seriously people, put that puritan bible down sometime... kids, especially if raised right can play violent games and explore sexuality safely and responsibly.....
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We aren't saying GTA will make kids turn into psychopaths, so our disdain for Jack Thompson in no way makes us hypocrites. What most of the comments have said is that GTA has themes that are clearly intended for adults, not that it will make kids violent. You came up with that on your own... nice job.

I made the post referring to Cinemax, but we were talking about a kid who was 10, not 13. Go back and reread the post. No one has said sex is a bad thing. That is something you just came up with yourself... nice job.

You are simply clueless if you think a kid watching Cinemax or playing GTA is a good way to learn about sex. One of the dumbest things I have heard in a long while. The only thing you will ever learn from Cinemax is that plumbers get laid a LOT. I really hope you never procreate.
 
On this form I was busted for bad grammer? I mean really?

Anyway yes I think the OP did the right thing obviously. Parents need to leran that that M is like an NC 17 on a movie. But they don't care to learn and just want the stores and schools to raise there children for them.
 
This is a game made for a mature audience. GTA is not a game like Doom which is just gratuitous violence. It's got some serious psychopathic themes that really shouldn't be a part of a child's life, especially at 10. Also if you compare kid's growing up today vs 15 years ago, most still had some fear of authority back then, now it's all the kid's controlling the adults. This whole kids raising themselves crap has to stop, parents need to be more active in the lives of their kids not letting the damn TV raise them. Parents have to be the ones to explain the concepts that GTA introduces or else the potential that the wrong message gets learned is very high. I'm not saying video games will make murderers and criminals, but really half assed parenting that does that.
 
So now the kid has to go to his friends house to play it... what a bitch. :p
 
That kid is going to hunt you down when he gets older.
 
There is nothing in GTAIV that any ten your old kid doesn't see on TV just about every day.
It's complete hypocrisy that they attack games for the same thing they let go on TV and they are morons for not realizing that.
 
milkweg said:
There is nothing in GTAIV that any ten your old kid doesn't see on TV just about every day.
It's complete hypocrisy that they attack games for the same thing they let go on TV and they are morons for not realizing that.
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Maybe because they feel video games are more "interactive" than TV shows. Instead of watching other people make decisions on how things play out, you are in control of pulling the trigger. Watching Baseball on TV (to me) is very boring. Playing a Baseball game (to me) is not as boring, but still boring. Do you feel you get the same experience from watching a speed run of a specific game? (Let’s say watching someone play HL2 all the way through vs. actually playing the game yourself?) I bet you the answer is no.

Not that I don't agree with you that there are visual images kids at 10 shouldn't be seeing on normal TV, but video games do take it another level farther…rather than sitting back and just being a complete coach potato. (I would think it be safe to say there’s a bit more brain activity going on while interacting with something vs. sitting back and only absorbing information)
 
The images in games are just cartoons so they are far less disturbing and realistic than any episode of CSI that is on TV ten times a day. Messed up people are the problem and not the games.
 
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